Boron is a micronutrient that not much is known about yet. Even so, boron compounds are found in some dietary supplements. Is boron healthy or harmful? Here’s what we already know.
What is boron
Boron is a chemical element that is one of the semi-metals. In nature it also occurs in the form of the mineral compound called borax before. Officially, the compound is called sodium tetraborate decahydrate, disodium tetraborate decahydrate, or, for short, sodium borate. The last term in particular is often read on nutritional supplements.
Boron is a basic trace element and vital for plants. Hence, you take in more boron when you yourself predominantly vegetable nourish. It is found primarily in legumes, fruits, and green leafy vegetables. You can also consume a lot of boron with mineral water.
Other foods that contain a relatively large amount of boron are prunes, soy and real caviar. In the latter you may find two boron compounds as Preservatives before: borax or sodium tetraborate under the E number E285 and boric acid under E284. Boric acid can also be found in Cosmetics for oral hygiene occur, but where the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment classifies it as no health hazard.
What is the use of boron?
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Borax used to be a tried and tested household remedy for ants and rust when mixed with sugar or vinegar. It is also used as a detergent and softener.
Today medicine is concerned with the benefits of boron for the human body. According to the consumer advice center there are currently no meaningful studies on effectiveness of the semi-metal. She argues that all studies are small and done with very high doses on animals or cells. Platforms that focus on Naturopathy specialize, in turn plead for the effectiveness of boron. In doing so, they cite allegedly clinical studies (i.e. studies carried out on humans) in which moderate doses of boron were administered.
In alternative medicine, boron and borax are said to be beneficial for bone health. According to the consumer advice center, however, there is no clear evidence of the alleviation of Joint pain. Only the boric acid compound “calcium fructo-borate” has been linked in individual, very small studies (roughly this one) with the improvement of bone density in osteoporosis or reduced joint pain. According to the current state of medicine, there is also still other supposed benefits of boron Research needs: Boron is said to ensure faster wound healing, activate vitamin D, the absorption of magnesium and Calcium promote and even prevent prostate cancer. However, it has not yet been clarified how much boron a person really needs.
Other studies even showed a harmful effect on the reproduction of the test animals. The German Apotheker Zeitung writes: “In numerous animal experiments, boron or boron compounds showed different adverse effects on reproduction“. Older studies have shown that boron also has a negative influence on embryonic development.
What should you look out for when taking boron?
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Bru-nO)
Since boron is not counted among the essential nutrients and nothing is known about a deficiency, there is no generally valid recommendation for a daily dose. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment recommends no more than 0.5 milligrams of boron per day Food supplements record. Values ​​of around 10 milligrams per day should not be exceeded, according to the European Food Authority.
Only two boron compounds are permitted in food supplements across the EU, boric acid and sodium borate, according to the consumer advice center. If you purchase food supplements with other compounds from abroad, these could be withheld at customs. The following compounds are therefore not permitted in Europe: calcium fructoborate, boron citrate, boron aspartate, elemental boron and boron (as boron citrate, boron aspartate and boron glycinate complex). Children, adolescents and breastfeeding women should not consume boron in addition to what is in the diet.
So if your diet is predominantly plant-based, you are probably already consuming at least as much boron as recommended anyway. So you can confidently do without additional intake of it. This is especially true because so far neither positive nor negative effects have really been conclusively proven.
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- Trace elements: occurrence and importance for health
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